St. Charles Hotel owner meets city deadline

The City of Winnipeg will not takeover the historic St. Charles Hotel after all.

• City of Winnipeg takes over St. Charles Hotel - sort of

The100-year-old building, located in the Exchange Districtat the corner of Albert Street andNotreDame Avenue, has been vacant since 2008.

Over the past year, the owner of the hotel, Ken Zaifman, had been given a number of deadlines to bring the hotel up to safety standards.

The city confirms Zaifman has now done what is required, specifically installing asprinkler system,and the city will no longer take title to the hotel.

Zaifman, an immigration lawyer, has long said hewants to turn the four-storeybuilding into a boutique hotel.

He has not said when he hopes to have that happen.